[TechAssist] Re: where did u guys learn?
- From: "Clancy Harms" <dickstv1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 09:12:46 -0500
Boy Perry,
That brought back memories!
My dad wasn't in the TV repair business. He was
a plumber... and I believe WE had 14 leaks! :-)
Take care and have a joyous weekend!
Clancy Harms, NESDA's Region 7 Director
Dick's Radio & TV, Inc.
2319 West Clay St. "Aim high men"
St. Charles, MO. 63301 "they're on camels"
(636)-724-5055
(636)-724-5531 fax
email: dickstv1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Electric Medic" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 3:36 AM
Subject: [TechAssist] Re: where did u guys learn?
WE HAD 14 television sets in our house during the '60s, none of which worked
properly. My dad was the TV repairman!
There were two sets in the living room-one provided the sound, while the
other flashed a barely visible picture. Mom and I tried in vain to find the
faulty tube or loose screw that made the picture too dim to watch.
Dad could have done it. His customers said he was a genius when it came to
fixing their broken TV sets.
Trouble was, Dad was so busy fixing TVs at night and working his factory job
during the day, he had no time to repair our set.
Mom was the one who persuaded Dad to get into TV repair. Years before they
were married, Mom attended the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in
1933 and the New York World's Fair in 1939, where she saw demonstrations of
television.
My parents bought their first set when they were married in 1949. Mom then
urged Dad to go to night school and learn how to fix TVs.
Dad enrolled in the television repair class at a technical school. When he
finished the class, he bought a repair kit that he carried in a big case.
Word soon got out in our Augusta Georgia South Side neighborhood that Dad
was a technical whiz. He could figure out the problems people were having
with this magnificent, but complicated, piece of equipment they could no
longer live without.
Referrals from satisfied customers kept our phone ringing at all hours. Even
at midnight, we would get calls asking for Dad's help. At 4 years old, I was
already taking Dad's phone messages. "My TV went out during The
Millionaire!" one panicked customer cried.
Lots of Tubes to Test
In those days, most of the problems with TV sets were in the tubes-and those
huge sets had a lot of them. Some used as many as 25, and all were different
sizes.
I remember going with Dad to a customer's house. He'd unscrew the back of
the set, brush off the dust inside, then remove any tubes that looked dark.
That meant they were burned out.
If he didn't't have a replacement tube in his kit, Dad would go to
Walgreen's, which had tubes and a tube-testing machine. Dad taught me to use
the tester. He showed me how the prongs on a tube would correspond to the
holes in the testing machine. I'd plug in the tube, then turn the knob to
"On". A dial would tell if the tube was "Good", "Weak" or "Poor". Dad would
then buy the tubes he needed.
Sometimes the tubes were all good, but the picture kept rolling. If the
problem was the horizontal or vertical hold, it meant there was a loose
screw somewhere.
Once their sets were fixed, smiles spread across the customer's faces. Dad's
fee? In 1959 it was about $2, plus whatever tubes he had to replace.
Old Sets Were Handy Loaners
When customers bought new TVs, they often gave Dad their old sets. He
welcomed them because he could use the good tubes to repair other sets. Dad
also used the sets as loaners if he had to take a customer's set home for
repair.
That's how we ended up with 14 sets, none of which worked properly. That's
also how Mom and I, after trying to fix the sets, knew that Dad really was a
genius.
When solid-state television sets appeared in the '60s, Dad's business
plummeted. The new sets were too advanced, too technical for him, Dad said.
Before long, the late-night repair calls stopped, Walgreen's removed its
tube-testing machine, and Dad's repair kit was tucked away in a closet.
Just like the iceman, the doctor who made house calls, and the man who came
by to sharpen knives, the TV home repairman's era came to an end.
Dad continued to work at his factory job and he worked weekends at an
old-fashioned soda fountain. I helped him there, too.
But he never did fix any of those 14 TV sets we had at home
Perry Bower, (EHEER) Electronic Home Entertainment Equipment Repairer
Electric Medic
"It's Cheaper to Keep Her"
http://www.electricmedic.com
Free Electronic Screensaver:
http://www.eyetide.com/download/?s=O3OfmSLHXygGHCv1W6Gz3Bgjtq3DNNMNdcKsYSVGC
3850 Washington Road Suite 5b
Augusta, Georgia 30907
Phone: 706-8MEDIC4 (863-3424)
Phone: 706-863-3474
Fax: 706-863-2316
mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: inventdv [mailto:inventdv@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 3:51 AM
To: techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [TechAssist] where did u guys learn?
im intrested in where some of u guys learnt repair
tell me
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